


Feelings Inside

by Juudals



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Juleka centered, Mentions of Anxiety, Post-Reflekdoll, slight ML Salt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-06 23:16:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20515121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juudals/pseuds/Juudals
Summary: Juleka felt her stomach twist on itself. She was glad Marinette had apologized to her. Even Rose had, while giving her a crushing hug at the same time. Yet she felt like she still had to explain why she had started to panic, but doing so would make it sound like she was demanding an apology from the others also.I DO NO GIVE PERMISSION FOR THIS STORY TO BE ON ANY SITE/APP OTHER THAN AO3





	Feelings Inside

**Author's Note:**

> Something quick that I was inspired to write after watching Reflekdoll. Hoping one day to do a more in-depth write out on Juleka so this was fun to do as a starting point!
> 
> Slight ML Salt since I didn't agree with Marinette having to be the only one to apologize to Juleka like it was her fault she was akumatized.

“You look so great, Juleka! You should wear red more, it brings out your eyes!” Rose squealed. “Hey Marinette, can you send me this one?”

“Sure thing, Rose,” Marinette nodded. Then her eyes widened as she quickly looked over to Juleka. “Is that okay with you?”

“Yeah, it's fine if it's Rose.” Juleka shrugged. She started to tuck her bangs back before catching herself and letting her hair fall back down. She gave Marinette a hesitant smile, appreciating she had asked that.

She was still feeling a little awkward despite how the photoshoot went. As the girls made their way back to Marinette's place after saying farewells to Adrien, Juleka couldn't help but feel ashamed. She had let herself be akumatized a second time like that. She even took it all out on Marinette despite knowing it wasn't just her at fault. She attacked her friends and even went after Rose.

Juleka felt her stomach twist on itself. She was glad Marinette had apologized to her. Even Rose had, while giving her a crushing hug at the same time. Yet she felt like she still had to explain why she had started to panic, but doing so would make it sound like she was demanding an apology from the others also.

How can she explain it had all happened too fast for her to process properly? That she felt too rushed by everyone because of the sudden time restraint all because Adrien joined last minute, and that it made her get worked up and panic? That she felt closed in when Rose and Myléne were standing right next to her adjusting her outfit? How she became too aware of Alix moving stuff around and it felt so much louder to her than it really was? How can she tell them she started getting uncomfortable with Alya's filming catching everything?

How can she ever tell them how horribly dismissed she felt when they jumped on the chance to make this about Marinette having a moment with her dear crush?

Or how ashamed she was of herself for not being able to speak up right away so that all of this could have been avoided?

“Juleka? Are you okay?” Rose's voice and the squeeze on her hand brought her back to the present. “You're looking pale, do you want to head home after changing?”

“Huh? O-Oh, um...sure,” Juleka nodded. She took a deep breath, hoping so wasn't as shaky as she actually felt. “Home sounds good-”

“Juleka!”

The girls jumped at the sudden shout. Juleka recognized the voice right away but she was startled by how loud it was.

“Luka? What are you-”

Her brother stopped in front of her. He was hunched over, clearly out of breath.

“Luka? What's wrong?” Marinette asked worriedly.

“Are you okay?” Rose asked next. Alya and Alix were off to the side, though their own worried confusion was clear.

Juleka looked Luka over, looking for any sign that he was hurt or something that would tell her what was wrong. His hair was a mess and face all sweaty. It looked like his right shoe was about to fall off...

“Wait,” She blinked. He didn't- “Did you run all the way here from the boat?”

“Of...Of course I did,” Luka finally seemed to catch his breath better and stood up straight. He placed his hands on her shoulders, bending down slightly to look her in the eye. “No one was answering their phones. Are you okay? Are you hurt? I'm so sorry, I thought this was something you wanted but did it just stress you out pushing you into it?”

“No, Luka it's fine now, I-” Juleka's voice caught. She cleared her throat. “I mean...I got stressed. But you didn't push me into this. I...”

Luka gave her a searching look. Probably looking for any sign she was hiding something. He was weirdly good at picking up stuff like that. Sometimes it annoyed her but today she was sorta grateful for it. It saved her from having to talk too much.

Whatever he saw, it was enough for Luka to give a relieved sigh and drop his hands.

“You can tell me about it at home later. Mom already said she's picking up your favourite for supper.”

It was such a small thing, but just hearing that made the twist in her stomach ease up. That meant her mother was coming home early tonight. Just the thought of that made her smile a little easier.

“Did you guys want to hang around for a bit? My mom said she was gonna set out some snacks for after the photoshoot.” Marinette said. “You can kill some time until you have to go home for dinnr.”

Juleka glanced up at her brother, half expecting him to jump on this chance. To her surprise, however, he shook his head.

“Thanks, Marinette, but maybe next time,” Luka smiled softly. Juleka didn't miss the way even his voice sounded lighter. “I hope you understand.”

“Yeah, sure thing! Next time!” Marinette nodded a bit too forcefully. When she turned to Juleka, her expression became more relaxed. “I hope the rest of your day goes better, Juleka. Feel free to stop by later if you change your mind.”

“I...I'll think about it. Thanks,” Juleka hesitated. She cleared her throat, hoping it would help her speak up a little better. “Um, and thank you. For apologizing...I'm sorry, too. It was like I was taking it out on only you and...that really wasn't...that wasn't fair. A lot happened at once and...everyone was doing stuff and...what I mean is, you weren't to blame. I'm sorry. For making it seem like you were.”

Had she said that right? She didn't think she did. Maybe she should have saved this for another time but she didn't think she could manage to bring it up on a different day.

She glanced at Rose, who was looking concerned, then to Luka, who was confused. She quickly looked over to Alya and Alix but they were no longer paying attention, instead looking at something on Alya's phone. With a sigh, she stared down at her feet. She really didn't do this right...

“Juleka...” Marinette's voice sounded off. Almost shaky. It was enough for Juleka to look up right away. It might have been a trick of the light outside, but for moment Juleka thought she looked up she was tearing up. Right away though, Marinette smiled brightly, “Thank you for saying that. I...I appreciate it.”

Rose let out a relieved breath. Luka seemed to be at ease about something. That twist in her stomach was more bearable now.

Maybe She did manage to say it right. At least, enough so that Marinette understood what she meant.

After getting changed and saying their farewells, Juleka accepted one last crushing hug and kiss on the cheek from Rose and headed home together with Luka.

They were a couple blocks away from the docks before her brother finally asked, “So what happened today? Did you and Marinette get into a disagreement over something?”

“...do I really have to tell you?” She glanced up at him in time to see him shrug. She glanced at his hand and sure enough, he started twisting his

“You don't. Talking it out might help though. I know you usually go to Rose for this kind of thing but I get the feeling you don't want to do that.”

“It's a little annoying how you pick up on that stuff,” Juleka muttered. Luka just let out a short laugh.

“You've told me that before. Offers still there though.”

“...we didn't get into a fight. It was...it was a lot of things at once. With everyone, not just Marinette. That's why I apologized. I didn't...I didn't like how I handled things, especially since it got me...like that again.” She stopped where she was and rubbed her arm. “I'll...I'll explain better later. Right now, I just want to change into something comfy and watch TV until mom's home.”

“Okay. Take your time to gather your thoughts. There's no rush.”

“Yeah...” She tucked her hair behind her ear, glancing up at him. “Hey, um...Thanks. For coming to check on me.”

“I can't do much but I'll be there when I can, Jule.” He held up his hand and tapped her on the top of her head with his knuckles. She shoved his hand away, making him laugh. “Next time though, try to need me a little closer to home. I think I lost like, ten pounds from running like that.”

“Don't sit at home so much then. You're getting out of shape.”

“Ouch, straight for the ego,” Luka put his hand over his heart with a wounded look. “Though it doesn't really work saying that when you're as lazy as I am.”

Juleka rolled her eyes but still found herself smiling. She didn't want to admit it, but Luka was good at taking her mind off things.

She was lucky to have him as her family and she hoped one day she'd be able to return what he does for her and be there for when he needs her. Her family always supported her when she needed them, even when she didn't realize she needed them.

From the bottom of her heart, Juleka hoped she could grow into a person who could one day support the people around her the same they did for her.


End file.
